Pittsburgh WR Jonathan Baldwin announced that he will forgo his senior season with the Panthers and enter the 2011 NFL draft.

Baldwin is coming off a disappointing season along with the rest of the Pitt program, which fired coach Dave Wannstedt on Tuesday. Though Baldwin's leaping ability and size (6'5/230 listed) can't be taught, he also has a history of off-field problems. It's worth noting that Baldwin ripped Pitt upon announcing his draft intentions on Wednesday: "Heck yeah I’m leaving," he said. "It can only get worse. They had me running a lot of deep routes [this year] and yards were hard to come by. I barely ran intermediate routes; it felt like they were purposely trying to disrupt my draft stock." A projected late first- to second-round pick, Baldwin comes with plenty of Knucklehead Factor.

Not surprised by this. Going into the season I would guess there was at least 80% chance Baldwin goes pro, and then after they fired Wanny, got bad QB play, and people are still talking about him as being a potential No. 1 pick, it moved to 90%+.

I like Baldwin, he may be a knucklehead and a boom/bust prospect, but he's certainly the best WR we've had since Fitz, and his play was hurt because of shoddy QB play (right now, only Vick and Norwood are football players I like less than Tino Sunseri), but you could tell he was definitely going through the motions this year. He had mentally checked out, and most teams should be cognizant of that before they throw big money at him.

His draft status could rise or drop depending on the off-season. It'll likely come down to his 40 time. He's a long strider, which tend not to have great 40 times come the Combine, but he certainly has the potential to run a 4.45 or faster. I'd probably put my money on a 40 between 4.48 and 4.6, which I think will cement him as a 2nd round pick. He could even fall to the 3rd down if he runs a 40 in the high 4.5s and teams are even less impressed with his character and interviews.

But because of his size, with a good 40 time I think he could sneak into the end of the 1st round for a team that wants a big WR that they can use like a Randy Moss. But if I was a better man, he's gone pro just so he can be drafted between picks #40 and #60. Decent money, but had he come back for another year and actually played hard with an improved Sunseri, he might have solidified himself as a 1st round pick in 2012. BUt who knows how much money those guys will get paid.

But because of his size, with a good 40 time I think he could sneak into the end of the 1st round for a team that wants a big WR that they can use like a Randy Moss.

Well we may be in the market for one of these, as I'd like to add either a deep speed WR or another big bodied WR like Jenkins w/ more athleticism. Other than a speed/pass catching RB, thats what the O needs at this point to progress further imho.

The player would have to be a true upgrade over Jenkins. Baldwin is't a burner like Mike Wallace or Steve Smith. If we could find another roddy who isn't a burner than yes but Baldwin has to many questions. Torrie Smith, Justin Blackmon just a few names that might want to keep in mind. Blackmon I highly doubt last to the Falcon's pick.

_________________Sometimes running the Mularkey offense makes me feel like I'm in a prison.

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